Wizz Air Ukraine
Ukraine · WIZZAIR UKRAINE · Active
Airline Identity
History
Wizz Air Ukraine was established on 11 July 2008 as the Ukrainian subsidiary of Hungary-based ultra-low-cost carrier Wizz Air, initially flying an all-Airbus A320 fleet from a base near Kyiv, with a further base opened at Donetsk in October 2013 that was closed by April 2014 due to the outbreak of war in the Donbas region. Citing hryvnia currency instability, foreign-exchange controls and broader economic disruption, Wizz Air shut the subsidiary's operations down on 20 April 2015, transferring its aircraft and some routes to Wizz Air Hungary. The subsidiary was subsequently reactivated later in the 2010s -- following talks between Wizz Air's CEO and Ukraine's president -- with plans for a large A320/A321neo order and new bases across the country, including Kyiv and, from 2021, Lviv, as part of a major planned expansion of Ukrainian flying that was cut short by the 2022 invasion.
Current Operations
Wizz Air Ukraine's flying is currently suspended and has been since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, when Ukrainian civilian airspace was closed and Wizz Air moved to evacuate staff and extract stranded aircraft (several A320s were trapped at Ukrainian airports for a time before being flown out). As of September 2026, Ukrainian airspace remains closed to civil aviation and Wizz Air Ukraine is not operating any flights, though the situation is fluid and closely watched: Wizz Air has periodically recruited Ukraine-based staff in preparation for an eventual return, and CEO Jozsef Varadi has said the airline could resume flights to Kyiv within weeks of the airspace reopening, with a stated plan to launch around 30 destinations initially, scale to roughly 60 within six months, and carry about 5 million passengers in the first year back -- contingent on a ceasefire or peace settlement and reopening of airspace, neither of which had occurred as of this writing.
Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.